Bounds
by Phant0m
Summary: Time-hopping stories. Chapter 3 is up: Cyberjunk.
1. DDay

**The Disclaimer**: I don't own D, V or Jack.

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**DATE: June 6, 1944**

_Captain Jack__ Harkness found Dante among the ruins of a dilapidated warehouse and realized that the man had fallen through time as well. Actually it didn't take a genius to figure this out – no one wore red leather and carried around broad swords at those times. 1944.. No one but the man he had found earlier (and did a hell of a job setting up). They even looked alike... The same person? Not so sure._

_--In the shelter--_

"So you brought this annoying lot of noise with you". Vergil grimaced.

Jack let that by, working on his wrist strap and locking the door. Dante gawked at the sight of his brother, dressed in a military uniform fitting him like a second skin and showing his perfectly built figure to awesome advantage.

"Shut your mouth, Dante. We're at war – you can catch a stray bullet." Vergil adjusted his cap and grabbed the papers from the table.

"I told you he had fit in." Jack smirked at Dante's face. "You have to change your clothes too.'

"What? No, I'm not gonna fight – there are humans out there!" Dante protested. "No demons, don't you get it? Only humans!"

"Hey, you don't have to kill. I need to bring you to the terminal but we can't get to the guarded location like that." He pointed to his flamboyant attire.

"Allright. But.. you've said he is a lieutenant. Did you make any orders, Vergil?" Dante looked at his brother, worried.

"Yes. Two shootings."

"What?? No!! What have you.."

"They were deserters. What was I supposed to do?"

"Ah, offended honor. But you know, one of them could have done something which is gonna be mentioned in the text books. You are changing history!"

"Anyway, the rift would be open for less than an hour. You should hurry!" the time agent cut in.

Dante shot an angry glance at his brother and quickly changed into the uniform.

"So what am I?"

"Private." Jack replied.

"Why is he an officer and I'm not?"

Vergil rolled his eyes.

"Don't act like a child." he snapped and clamed a helmet on his head with a bang.

"Ow, careful!" Dante complained, wincing.

"Nothing valuable to harm there."

"Ha-ha." Dante growled before Vergil grabbed him by the shoulder and dragged towards the exit.

The shelter partially lowered the outside noise of gun firing so they immediately clasped at their ears when Jack opened the steel shutter. Apparently the D-Day was in its full swing. Hundreds of people dying every single moment, some of them hardly made it to the sand of Normandy beaches when the bullets found them. Shrapnel exploding, soldiers running to take cover but never getting there as the machine-guns tore them away and apart.

"GET DOWN!!" Jack yelled, trying to outvoice the gun thunder as he spotted the grenade launcher turning their way on the other side of the trench not far away.

"WHAT?" Dante yelled back when Vergil rammed into him from behind and bowled him down. The grenade flew over their heads into one of the gun-ports and exploded, showering the three of them with ground and sharp fragments of concrete. When it ended Vergil crawled off his brother and punched him hard in the side.

"Awww.." Dante tore himself from the ground with a groan and looked at him accusingly.

"You cloth ears." Vergil glared at him from under the cap peak.

"It's all helmet!" Dante propped his upper body on his elbows and took the headpiece off. "I don't hear anything in it!"

"Put it back." Vergil ordered, reaching for the thing.

"Worried about me, bro?" Dante grinned, his face covered with dirt, which made his blue eyes stand out even more sharply.

"No. White hair draws attention we can do very well without."

"You're kidding! Who would pay attention to someone's hair when there's a shit like this?!" he quickly put his helmet back when they heard another unmistakable sound of flying rocket whooshing by. Another heap of mud lumps came over them and Dante felt a tug at his boot. He turned and saw Jack, an angry look on his face.

"Would you two start moving already?" he asked before throwing a quick glance at his strap. "If we don't make it there in time, you won't be able to go back!

"What?! And get stuck here? NO WAY!" Dante exclaimed before crawling forward at an amazing speed which impressed even Vergil as he vainly tried to catch up with him.

_What do you think? This is odd (well, for me) but I'd be very glad if you liked this setting. _


	2. Mythic Disservice

**Chapter 2: Mythic Disservice  
****Year: 1305 BC **

"You've got to be kidding me!" Dante gaped at the man who was standing in front of them. It was the first human they saw after walking along those endless green fields and valleys for hours.

"No." Vergil sighed in irritation for the tenth time. "Unfortunately, I am not. He said that we must find-"

"You are both trying to fool me here." He shook his head. "No way could it be possible. And since when do you speak Ancient Greek?" Dante eyed him suspiciously.

"Since half of our father's library consisted of the volumes that were written in it. Just because you have never been there does not mean others live in the same ignorance."

Dante huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, moving his gaze from the man who was dressed like a serf to his brother. Could it really be happening?

"So that Hercules truly exists? Isn't that a fictional character?"

Vergil made a helpless gesture.

"Okay, let's find him. But what could he know about the portals, anyway? It just doesn't wash."

***

In an hour or so they finally bumped into a very large bearded man wrapped in an impressive-looking lion's skin. Probably Nemean one's. Vergil was the one to speak since Dante was busy picking his jaw from the ground, not to mention that he couldn't speak Greek, ignoramus.

Hercules appeared to be quite friendly and cooperative as he answered his questions. He did notice some supernatural activity the day before. But he refused to tell them its location.

"But why?" Dante frowned. As it turned out, Hercules spotted their swords and decided that he could make use of those strange looking people... So they should-

"WHAT??" Dante stared at him wide-eyes before raising his arms and waving them in a no-freaking-way motion. "I'm not performing any labors. Isn't that his job?"

"It is, but he says he runs out of time and weapons, so-". Vergil also seemed to be very displeased with the idea.

"But where's the honor in that?" Dante covered himself with righteous indignation. "What kind of hero dumps his duty on the others??"

Vergil asked the demigod another question. It seemed the gods refused to aid him since today's morning someone toppled a lot of trees in one of Hera's sacred gardens. No one but Hercules possessed that kind of force so they concluded that he was the one responsible for the mess.

The half-breeds exchanged quick looks because what he described was the result of their "landing" as they were hurled out of the portal like some sort of a meteorite, crashing trees down like giant ninepins. And it was very-very wrong as it marked the beginning of history alteration.

So Hercules wasn't able to do all the labors himself. But he wanted them to help him with only-

"Three??" Dante grimaced. Vergil nodded absently, as his mind was already going through the tactics of performing them. "Isn't that too good for him? Why doesn't he shove it up his-"

"We have no choice, Dante. We are already changing the past." Dante looked at him angrily. "We have to go back as soon as possible."

"Fine!" he huffed. "Which one did he come back from?" The answer was the Lernean Hydra. "So. You get one and I get one. Which are…?"

"Capture the Cerynian Hind and slay the Stymphalian Birds. You are taking the Hind."

"Why me?"

"You are the one with the "Hunter" in the specialty description." And he was the Slayer. Vergil grimaced mentally at his reasoning but one of the rules of effective communication said "adjust to the level of your interlocutor, so…"

"Very smart, bro."

Oh…well…

"But fine, whatever. Where I can find it?" Hercules explained everything and warned that he should under no circumstances kill it as it was Artemis' pet deer and they all would be in a world of pain if something happened to it. Vergil received his instructions and they arranged to meet six hours later at the same spot. It was already getting dark so they had a night to do their tasks. Hercules would show up in the morning.

***

Seven hours passed.

His head was throbbing, his whole body ached, limbs threatening to fall off as if he had just run a marathon. But wait. He did run a damned heat because the last five hours were spent rushing after that inconceivably speedy animal. Of course, he didn't capture it. He couldn't even make it good as it never slowed down, sweeping past like a big red bullet. He spent all of his Quicksilver resources on it but it didn't help. It was _abnormally_ fast.

When he reached the appointed place, he saw his brother, who sat on the ground with a sullen look on his face, arms resting on his bent knees, his state even more sorry as his clothes had multiple tears in them and were covered by stains of dried blood.

"So…you're done?" Dante plopped down on the ground next to him. Vergil didn't reply as he reached his right hand to his left shoulder and pulled out a dart-like feather with a slight gasp, a trickle of blood running down his arm as he threw the feather to the ground in frustration. "Apparently, not. How did it go, Slayer?" Dante taunted. Vergil pursed his lips.

"I failed." He said dryly. The birds moved too fast for his summoned swords to reach them and too high for him to teleport from one to another as they dashed from side to the side. "What about yours?"

"Well…"

"I see."

Both sat in silence for a couple of minutes, thinking of any other strategy they could use to fulfill their tasks. Dante could not compete with the hind in speed, and Vergil's rate of fire was too slow. Wait. They slowly turned to face each other.

"Let's swap." They blurted out at once.

***

The birds were nothing new to Dante. After all, they weren't that different from Blood Goyles.

The bullets were swishing in all the directions, striking the birds, shooting them down one by one. The air was filled with shrieks as they tried to attack him with their feathers but the devil hunter shot all the sharp arrows away as well. The whole labor took about an hour and soon the remaining birds abandoned the area, carrying their screeching cacophony away.

And of course, when he returned, he saw the red hind lying on the ground next to his twin, its legs tied with the…what was it – laces from their army boots? - as it peered up at them silently.

"Impressive!" Dante grinned as he looked down at the hind – now that it wasn't speeding along he could see that it had golden horns and hoofs of bronze. Quite a beautiful creature it was. "Any problems?"

"Not at all." Several teleportations and it was caught.

"You know, it's not fair. Hercules was written to pursue it for a whole year and now... Aren't we changing it too much?"

Vergil shrugged his shoulders. He didn't seem to care one bit already, it seemed.

"So? One more to go?" His twin nodded. "Which one is it?"

"It is the fifth one."

"The fifth?" Dante frowned. His eyes slowly moved to the left as he tried to remember the books. "It's the.. " His eyes widened.

"No way, dude! I'm so not cleaning the stables!"

"Yes, you are." Vergil replied sternly.

"Oh, really? And who would make me? You?" He mocked as he crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing his twin derisively. "The one who got his ass handed to him by a bunch of birds?"

"The same about you, brother." Vergil said coldly, his eyes shining with a promise of beating. And booting. "But as much as I would love to sever your limbs and cauterize the cuts like those of a hydra, there will not be any external stimulation. You will do it on your own volition." Dante looked at him warily, his brows furrowed.

"You got a screw loose with that hind?" He inquired. "And why should _I _do that and not you?"

"Because I'm doing it every day in that filthy pigsty you are calling shop. I believe it is time for you to clean something at least once in your life."

"Huh." Dante gave him a nice-try look. "My pigsty is not _that_ big. Besides, I don't even get paid for this one." Watching his brother's hand wound itself around the hilt of Yamato Dante unwittingly began to search for an excuse, by that fact alone moving himself to the consent. "And I don't remember how he did it."

"I will remind you, don't worry." Vergil smiled and dropped his hand. Dante didn't even realize that he agreed to that.

***

A briefing and a couple of hours later Dante stood in front of the stables. He had told Augeas that his name was Hercules and he came to get his stables rid of its awful contents, all the while feeling like a fool. Now he stood there, a thoughtful expression on his face, eyes moving from the stables to the nearby river curve. And how on earth was he supposed to dig a ditch? No, two ditches? After he grew a couple of excavator buckets maybe. And apparently, that Aug… thought the same thing as he was laughing his ass out when he declared his intention. Vergil was sooo dead for that. He looked at the river again and it struck him. Of course! How did beavers make dams? The river bend wasn't that broad – he just needed to find something to make a weir and the job was done.

***

Meanwhile Vergil passed the hind to Hercules, and got the information concerning the portal's location. Hercules thanked him for the aid and asked about his companion. A gloating smile drew itself across Vergil's face.

They were requested to perform only two labors – which was exactly why the knowledge was power. Dante didn't know that which gave Vergil a wonderful opportunity to dip Dante into something nasty. So when Hercules had pointed out the locations Vergil asked him about the third one "out of pure curiosity."

An hour or two later Dante showed up, soaked to the skin but grinning proudly, to Vergil's great vexation. After the flood of water washed the stables, the half-demon went as far as to demand a payment. Augeas refused at first but Dante's demonic form succeeded in making him a lot more flexible.

"There's just one trouble." Dante muttered as he fished out the coins. "The loot's valid only here. Oh, wait. I can fetch a good price for that when we get home!" Vergil just stared at him expressionless. "Have you seen him already?"

"Yes. I know where the portal is."

"Okay, let's move."

The portal appeared to be in the same region as Augeas' property. As they neared the place, an unmistakable smell reached them.

"Did you clean the stables?" Vergil scowled as the stench was beginning to get stronger.

"Of course I did."

"Did you dig the trenches as I had described?"

"I came up with a better idea." He smirked. Vergil instantly got a foreboding of something bad.

"And…what did you come up with?" He inquired, already wanting to slap his forehead mentally.

"I built a dam and let the water wash it all away like you told me. What's the difference anyway?"

"Very well." Vergil nodded, wrinkling his nose as the stink was becoming unbearable. "One question: Did you remove the dam afterwards, you imbecile?" He held his nose and watched a rapid change of expressions on his brother's face as Dante frowned slightly before widening his eyes.

He stopped in his tracks.

"Oh, shit!!"

Vergil rolled his eyes. Observant, wasn't he?

The Augeas' house was situated on the elevation which meant that now the nearby villages were being flooded with the remains of manure that the river kept carrying into the valley.

"I can't believe I am related to anything as ridiculous as you." Vergil sighed heavily, shaking his head in disbelief. But then he realized that Hercules might already be there and now was listening to the complaints of people who described a very "gifted" white-haired man. "Come on! We need to get out of here as soon as possible!"

As much as he would not mind leaving Dante to deal with infuriated Hercules and locals, he still wasn't able to step into the portal on his own.

That if they managed to reach the portal quicker than the famous demigod.


	3. Cyberjunk

_Hey, guys! This one is totally experimental. Started it after watching Blade Runner during my finals... Yeah, I think you already know what this is about).__

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**Chapter 3: Cyberjunk  
Year: 2089**

The butler led him into the cabinet, and Vergil saw the person he was "intended" for. The young woman was leaning against her father's desk, obviously waiting for his arrival. She was dressed in black jean capris and white loose shirt with rolled up sleeves, dark blue embroidery running all over the cloth. She seemed to look… decent, well, he wasn't that keen on women to actually appraise her from the position of his experience as it wasn't that impressive compared to his brother's. But… if he made an impartial assessment... she could be considered attractive. Someone would probably be attracted, but not him, of course.

That's when he put his thoughts away to finally notice the expression on her face as she rose towards him slowly. It confused him to no end as never before had someone looked at him like that.

She was obviously stunned, staring at him like he had ten legs or antenna on his head. Or maybe he should have? Why hadn't they examined the robot more thoroughly? Damn it. The moment those people told him their idea, he knew it was bound to be a failure. But they insisted that he tried. He and Dante looked unusual enough to pass ass an android. The president of some corporation that possessed some kind of equation they needed had recently ordered a new machine for his experiments. They intercepted the delivery to replace it. He should get into the house, find this formula and get out. Those were the conditions of that underground group they had come across that knew how to control the portals so he had no choice but to actually try. They couldn't stay too long in the future.

He was waiting for her to say something but she just absently raised her hand and waved to the side, sending the butler away, with her blue eyes glued on him all the time.

"So… "She cleared her throat when the butler left them. "You… are the SGV-8?"

"Yes." He said impassively though he wasn't that calm on the interior. Was something wrong? "I am."

"Wow," She breathed out and Vergil gave her a guarded look. "You know, I was expecting them to tighten a couple of screws and add more pigment to the skin but this…" She gave him a look over with her brows raised. "You don't understand what I'm trying to say, do you?"

"Well." He replied, feeling extremely uneasy under her gaze as she kept taking him in, shamelessly glowing at his body, and probably undressing him with her eyes. Perhaps he should have sent Dante instead. No doubt he would have been in his element. "I'm a more advanced model." He mentally shuddered at the words.

"I see. " She said absently, going on with her examination. Would she stop staring? He was beginning to feel nervous. "You know, I should probably send them a letter of appreciation. This is incredible!" She finally looked into his eyes.

He didn't say anything and she walked towards him. He tensed but didn't make any movements when she raised her hand and touched the side of his face. _You are robot, you are robot. The robot would not dash aside._

"Your skin is so warm." She noted quietly. "Is this some kind of fibers-heating technology?" She asked curiously and placed her hands on his forearms, sliding them up to his shoulders as her eyes followed the motions, taking in all the details. "Perfect muscle structure. How did they manage to create such a wonderful body?"

Vergil tried to keep a straight face but despite his great efforts his cheeks tinted red. The woman removed her hands and took a step back, amazed.

"Hey… How did you do that?" She questioned, as if he was a pet that showed her a trick. But before he could say something she smiled. "Oh, don't say!" She pointed a finger at him. "There is a course of non-verbal communication in your database so you know what reaction to imitate when you hear things like that, right?" She sounded like an eager student, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.

"Yes." He said with a wry smile and an inward slap to his forehead. Well, wasn't he chatty? Should robots be that constrained? "You are absolutely right."

"I knew it!" She laughed. "So... what else do you have there? History of any country? Philosophical tractates? You must be a walking and talking encyclopedia." Oh, she wouldn't make a quiz game out of this now would she? Thank Lord they didn't send Dante in. Before he could comment she began talking again. "How many books do you have there?"

She seemed to be jumping from subject to subject, showing no particular interest in delving deeper into anything. He should just let her have her say and there would be no problems.

"Enough." He replied. She frowned. Bad answer. Perhaps robots shouldn't be giving vague answers. "Several thousand." He went at random and she smiled.

"Ovid?"

"Yes."

"Shakespeare?"

"Yes."

Her eyes sparkled with mischief.

"The Kamasutra?" she wondered and Vergil paled though she didn't notice as she gazed at him innocently. "Do you have it?"

"..yes." he said hesitantly. Dante, he should have sent Dante! He prayed that she wouldn't ask him to prove it. She smirked and came nearer so they were mere inches apart.

"Good." She whispered, placing her hands on his chest. Vergil swallowed hard. What was she going to do? Her right hand slipped up his chest and rested on the nape of his neck. Vergil's mind began to work frantically. What was that robot made for? Why didn't they learn its functions? What was he suppo- His thoughts were cut abruptly as she stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his.

His eyes widened and his first impulse was to pull away but he remembered that the machine would stay motionless and obey every order. He stood rigid like a mannequin, waiting for her to finish with whatever she was doing with his lips. Noticing the lack of response the woman pulled away, her hand still around his neck, and scowled up at him. Apparently he did something wrong. Or maybe he felt different? He looked down at her expressionless but his face flushed visibly.

Was it possible for him to refer to the absence of this function in his prog-.

"Kiss me." She ordered. Apparently, it wasn't. But how should he… "I want you to kiss me." He had no choice. Flinching inwardly he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips before pulling away. The look on her face showed him that he disappointed her. Damn that woman. What was he supposed to do? "You know," she said with irritation. "I guess I overestimated you. Previous models weren't that dumb."

"Wha-" She captured his mouth again before he could say anything and pressed into him. Her left hand took his and placed it on her waist. "Kiss me back." She muttered against his lips and he obeyed. He was cornered now. Wrapping his hands around her waist he pulled her closer to him and covered her mouth with his. She was putting so much passion into their kiss that he wondered if she had any disorder since it was supposedly done with a piece of metal. But soon his analytical mind shut down as she wound her arms around his neck and the kiss deepened, putting his body on fire. The kiss felt strangely good and he felt control slipping out of his hands as she moaned against his mouth, her excitement increasing with every second.

Suddenly they heard footsteps in the corridor and she pulled away abruptly, breathing heavily.

"I was right." She breathed out, putting a hand to her chest to calm herself down. What was she talking about? Vergil wondered, his mind hazed by a tumult as he tried to slow down his own breathing. "You are amazingly good."

Vergil just stared at her, not knowing what to say when a man in his forties entered the cabinet.

"Hello, dear." He greeted the woman. He was dressed in a light grey suit, his brown hair slightly tinted white on the temples. Apparently it was her father, the president of Streamtech. He moved his gaze from Vergil to his daughter, noticing her flushed state and frowning. "What were you doing with it?"

Vergil flinched at the "it" but the man seemed to be calling everything what it was.

She dropped her gaze, blushing.

"This is not what I acquired it for, do you understand that?"

"What?" She looked up. "You're going to use it too? They all get destroyed in your experiments. Can't you leave me just one?"

"This machine was not engineered for entertainment purposes. Years of programming would go down the drain if it is used for keeping up pointless conversations and-" the man stammered, his face reddening as he gesticulated in indignation towards Vergil - "…intimacy!" It was said with disgust, as if the man couldn't even fathom something like that.

"But… Dad, I-"

"Cut it out, young lady." Her father snapped out, not letting her finish. "I closed my eyes to your previous rattening activities but I would not tolerate your disobedience any longer."

The woman averted her eyes, shoulders slack, and Vergil calmed down a little, hoping that after the scolding she would refrain from making further attempts at molesting his person. Humans. Apparently there was nothing their prurient nature couldn't find a way to satisfy their primitive needs with.

Nothing was new here. What really bothered him was the danger of staying there too long and getting into that man's experiments. They had told him that he was looking for an alternative source of energy and tested the resulting energy fields on robots and animals. Nothing came out unscathed.

"You," The man pointed at him, snapping him out of his thoughts. "Come with me." With that he went out of the room and down the corridor, followed by Vergil. They entered a small room with lots of wooden bookshelves on the left, a table in the center and a door on the left to another room, perhaps the man's bedroom.

The man walked to one of the shelves and pulled several thick folders from one of the boxes.

"You need to learn the data I have collected by this time." He said as he put the papers on the table and tapped on the pile with his hand. "I have to leave now. I am certain you will finish by the time I return."

Vergil nodded, watching the man as he left. Now it was time for actual job.

Getting down to searching, Vergil neared the table and opened the upper folder. His eyes widened. The paper was covered with hundreds of formulas, schemes, and some type of coding. How would he find that particular formula among that? He was never a computer genius – that programming language was unfamiliar to him. Vergil held the volumes the majority of people never heard of, saw and battled things they never dreamed of but there was no way he could read those numbers. Even Yamato was useless against pure coding.

There should be some kind of description next to the formula in question that might help him but he could see no words at all. Just numbers and commands.

"How _in thunder _will I comprehend that??" He began to shuffle through the papers, face getting paler and paler with every page he turned that was covered with pieces of code. "Didn't he make any simple notes?" He put the folder aside and opened another one, his eyes meeting with another session of numbers and causing him to groan inwardly as he run a hand through his hair in dismay.

No. He was thinking illogically. If the formula was of great importance, it could hardly be found among those stashes of folders where it could easily be lost. Perhaps that man had some sort of an organizer that kept records of that kind.

He turned to the bookshelves and checked every single shelf, moving books and papers until he found a small claret notebook. That's it. He began flipping through the records and soon found the one he needed. Well, almost.

He pressed a spot behind his ear where they placed a microchip.

"I found it." He said, listening to the transmitting device. And instantly clutched at the ear, wincing as a loud and cheerful voice resounded in his skull like a loudspeaker.

"ABOUT TIME, BRO!"

"Would you stop yelling, you idiot?" Vergil hissed, letting out an inaudible "ah", still wincing at the pain in the offended eardrum. "It's digital, for God's sake!"

"Sorry."

"Tell them I found the equation."

"Good. Dictate."

"I can't find the second part of it." He said after uttering the characters. There was a muffled talk on the other side and then Dante's voice returned.

"Then you should stay there until you find it."

"NO!" Vergil blurted out, terrified at the thought. "No way! This woman-"

"There's a chick in there?" Dante cut him off, suddenly becoming interested. Vergil rolled his eyes.

"Yes, there is. But it's none of your concern. Let me speak to-"

"Is she hot? Dude, and why would you want to do a bunk?"

"She is completely insane!"

"Why is that?"

"She almost ravished me." Vergil shuddered.

"No shit!" Dante began laughing. "Look at those modern tendencies! Women, making a move. What a wild behavior!" He mocked, making Vergil red with rage.

"She harasses robots, you idiot! Does it seem normal to you?"

"Well, maybe, but you're not a robot, tightass."

"But she doesn't know that!" Vergil almost shouted but then got a grip on himself. "Alright, I'll go investigate his bedroom." He said quickly, stepping into adjacent room. Going straight to the cupboard he began digging in the contents of its drawers, opening them one by one.

"Okay, and how did you react to her?" He heard in his ear and frowned.

"Now is so not the time for your perverted curiosity, Dante." Vergil hissed, tossing the papers in another drawer. "So shut up."

"No, I mean…" He noticed the thoughtfulness in his voice and stopped, wary. "We checked the junk he ordered. Its functionality is limited and… it has no sexual characters."

"What?" Vergil almost whispered, his eyes wide, and at the same moment the lights turned on and he heard the sound of the gun cocking. Slowly rising and turning around, Vergil faced the president of the company, a modified variation of Glock 39 (it's probably 150 now or something) pointed right at him. There was something on the sides of it, and the muzzle looked strange. Was it laser? Oh, dear.

"Well, well. So I was right in my suspicions. You are too good to be a robot." His other hand whipped out a small device that slid apart, turning into a cellphone. "Don't move. If you try to attack me, this room will be completely secured with a laser shield." He put the device to his ear.

"Spectrum." He said without taking his eyes off Vergil. The phone dialed the number and soon someone answered. "This is Wilson. There is a problem with one of your models. Yes, this one. Yes. Will you look at it? Yes, right now. Very good."

Vergil paled as he watched the man put the device away. There was no way out of it now. And he was weaponless. Well, not completely but his powers were losing to laser beams. That man had probably had sensors somewhere on him or something so he couldn't jump him – and the option of playing Yoda without Yamato didn't seem like a palatable idea.

"Now." Wilson said. "Who do you work for?"

"Sir, I'm afraid there is a misunderstanding." Vergil said calmly, trying to maintain an outward imperturbability. No way would that laser procedure be painless. "I was searching for additional information. The files you provided were insufficient."

"They were?" The man asked, frowning as though he was considering the possibility of it. But then his face went angry again. "Right, so you went to look in my bedroom instead of asking me."

"Sir," Vergil replied, swallowing hard. Why was Dante silent when he was needed, that buffoon? "I believed you were absent so I took the liberty of finding another source of information."

The man looked unsure but never lowered the gun. "What about my daughter?"

"You made it clear that I should reduce our communication to a minimum, sir." He wondered how long would that interrogation last. He wasn't sure whether he would be able to use appropriate excuses for long.

"True." Man nodded. "Alright. And what data have you considered incomplete?" That was it.

Vergil opened his mouth to... no, not to talk but to create an impression of it when they heard the voice of the woman.

"Dad." She called, nearing the entrance. "There are people from Spect.. What is going on?" She demanded, looking between the gun and Vergil.

"Everything is in hand, dear. Let's go." He motioned for Vergil to follow them as they went into the corridor and soon into the hall. The man's jaw dropped - as well as his hand that held the gun as he quickly hid it when he saw the visitors. There stood a man in a suit and next to him…was an exact replica of SGV-8. That couldn't be possible! His eyes widened as he moved his gaze from the first robot to its copy to find no distinction whatsoever. An uncanny likeness! It meant he was wrong.

Vergil too saw the visitors and rolled his eyes, grimacing at Dante which went unnoticed as he stood behind the man. Dante was dressed in the same outfit and had his hair slicked back in the same manner Vergil wore it. It reminded Vergil of their childhood when there was no way other people could tell them apart and it pissed him off. After all, it was obvious that the one with that stupid grin and eyes with no trace of intelligence in them was Dante, not him, wasn't it?!

"Good afternoon." Wilson and the person in a suit shook hands. "I am sorry." He added. "When I first saw SGV-8 I had my doubts as it looked too uncommon for Spectrum production. But since there is a conveyer for the likes of it…" He trailed off and looked warily at Dante.

Vergil prayed that Dante kept his big mouth shut till the end.

"It's alright, mr. Wilson" The man in a suit who Vergil recognized as a member of the clandestine group smiled. Apparently they tapped the call. "If you happened to have any problems, we can replace it." He pointed at the "robot" next to him.

"Oh, no, no." The man quickly replied."No problem at all, but I wonder if you can provide me with another, simpler model. Something with basic functions but no autonomous and self-regulating behavior."

"Of course, sir. It will be delivered here tomorrow's morning." He nodded and looked at Vergil."Follow me, SGV." Vergil obeyed, giving the man and the woman one last glance before stepping out the door and closing it behind him, still unable to believe he got out.

"Wait." He heard when they reached the end of the porch. He turned around and saw the woman who quickly walked towards them. Nearing him, she put a piece of paper into his hand.

"I figured you need this." She smiled and Vergil looked down at the paper, unfolding it. It had the second part of the equation. Puzzled, he looked up. "I heard you when you dictated the first part."

"But your father-" He began and she shook her head.

"Have you heard him? That's why I don't care about any of this. He will fail anyway. Besides." She gave him another sweet smile. "How can I not help such a handsome man?" Vergil arched his brow.

"You figured it out when you caught me talking?" He frowned. She grinned.

"No." She whispered before leaning up and pressing a quick kiss on his lips, startling him again. "I'm an AI engineer. Do you really believe I can't tell a robot from a man? _And a good kisser to boot_." She added in a low voice before chuckling and walking back towards the door, leaving a confused half-demon behind.

"Hey!" Dante called when Vergil turned to them, red in the face. "I demand a full description of what you di-"

"Shut up." Vergil walked past him, ignoring his question. It meant she toyed with him from the beginning. He felt like a complete idiot. _Kamasutra_, damn it. He grimaced.

"Hey, we saved you and this is what we get?"

"I said. Shut. UP."

Dante pursed his lips as the three of them got into a car. She called _Vergil_ a man? That cold fish? What was wrong with the future??

_tbc_


End file.
